A Moment
by Shinigami Shi
Summary: Drabbles and oneshots centering around the Slayers characters. Ranging from friendship, to angst, to humor. May contain some L/G and A/Z
1. Sparring

**Title:** Sparring  
**Characters:** Lina, Gourry, Amelia, Zelgadis  
**Pairings:** none  
**Rating:** G

**Timeline:** Sometime during NEXT.

**Summary: **Whenever Zelgadis looked back on the first time he sparred with Amelia, the thing he remembered most was the sound of Gourry and Lina laughing.

* * *

"Oof!"

Gourry landed painfully on the ground, arms twisted in a complex hold. He chuckled breathlessly, wind knocked out from the fall, "I give up!"

Amelia quickly pulled him to his feet, looking over him and making sure she didn't do any damage, "You okay?"

Gourry ruffled her hair, "I'm a tough guy, I can handle getting beaten up now and again."

Perhaps once, something would have told him he ought to feel miffed at being beaten by a girl nearly half his size and probably a third of his weight, instead he ambled over to the steps of the inn and sitting down with a sigh of relief.

"Oh, are you finished?" Amelia asked, disappointed. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, lower lip unconsciously pushing outward in a pout.

Had Gourry not been a gentleman not keen on cursing in front of ladies, he would have done so heartily. Amelia was even more talented at getting her way through puppy dog eyes than Lina, and she wasn't even doing it intentionally. Amelia's pleading looks had been known to move even Lina to her side.

To Gourry's relief, Zelgadis chose that moment to come out through the door. The younger man paused, one eyebrow raised curiously, "What are you doing out here so early?"

"Zel!" Gourry bounded to his feet, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. "Do you know hand-to-hand combat?"

"Some," Zelgadis said slowly, wondering what Gourry was up to. Gourry's grin widened.

"I'm beat, why don't you spar with Amelia for a bit?"

Zelgadis blinked, eyes swiveling from Gourry to Amelia, and back again. "Spar with Amelia?" he repeated hesitantly. Amelia's expression was hopeful, "I guess..." He pulled off his cloak and walked down the rest of the steps.

Gourry sat back down, the grin never leaving his face as Amelia and Zelgadis both shifted into a defensive pose. Zelgadis was slightly shorter than Gourry, though he made up for it with his weight, and Gourry was certain as to the outcome of the session.

Zelgadis waited, watching Amelia, who was in turn patiently watching him, waiting to see who would make the first move. Zelgadis's first thought was to try to end the fight quickly, and he lunged forward.

In the next instant, he found his face slamming into the ground his legs were knocked beneath him and a pair of small but surprisingly strong hands forced his arms into a painful hold, and he let out a gasp of surprise.

He heard Gourry chuckle loudly from his place on the porch, "Come on, Zel, I didn't expect you to win, but that was kind of pathetic. Have I ever lost that quickly, Amelia?" He asked.

Amelia's grip on his arm shifted, and she pulled him to his feet again, looking sheepish, "Err... no, Gourry-san..."

Zelgadis sighed, putting a hand over his eyes when he heard Lina let out a shriek of laughter from nearby. He would never live that down.

* * *

**A/N:**This one was quickly written for a Christmas challenge I never finished. I've always pictured Amelia as the most adept at fighting without weapons, since she's never relied on them, and I thought it would be amusing to have her beat Gourry and Zelgadis at something. I figured that Gourry would want to get some practice with weaponless fighting, but would never win, no matter how many times they sparred. And of course I like to pick on Zel.


	2. The Pack Llama

**Title:** The Pack Llama

**Characters:** Gourry and Zelgadis

**Pairings:** none (very, very light A/Z and L/G if you reach while squinting with your head turned sideways)

**Rating:** G

**Timeline:** Sometime around Episode 3 of Revolution.

**Summary: **There were few things that would keep Gourry away from Lina... Shopping was one of them.

* * *

Tap, tap, tap.

"Gourry, would you stop that?" Zelgadis raised his head from the book he had been poring over, turning to send a glare at the blond swordsman across the room. Gourry jumped, lifting his hand from the desk.

"Sorry, I'm just bored," Gourry apologized, folding his hands in his lap.

"That's fine," Zelgadis shrugged and returned to his book.

Five minutes later, Gourry began tapping the desk again.

"Do you need something to do, Gourry?" Zelgadis sighed, abandoning his book.

"Nah, I'll just wait for the girls to get back."

"Why didn't you go with them?" Zelgadis wondered. "If you're so impatient-"

"They're shopping," Gourry informed him shortly.

Oh.

"Oh," Zelgadis said slowly. "I thought you liked to shop."

"I think Lina got a bunch of money from that last batch of bandits..." Gourry trailed off, shaking his head and frowning solemnly. "Nevermind, you wouldn't understand."

"What wouldn't I?"

"Well, Amelia probably thinks that making someone else carry her stuff would be 'against the code of justice' or something," Gourry shrugged. "Whenever Lina's shopping, the only thing I'm good for is carrying bags."

Zelgadis could very easily picture Lina forcing whoever was with her to carry enough bags to make a horse tip over. Suddenly, he was very glad that Amelia _did _thing forcing others to carry her bags was against the code of justice.

* * *

**A/N: **Written for a challenge on Livejournal that I never finished. Edited before posting here. I was thinking about Lina's money loving ways and how much it would suck to go shopping with her. She strikes me as the type of person that would make everyone else carry her bags... As to the title, during the Harry Potter 7 release party, we made our friends who didn't come in costume carry the stuff and referred to them as our "Pack Llamas" because we didn't want to call them mules.


	3. Worry

**Title:** Worry

**Characters:** Amelia and Gourry

**Pairings:** None

**Rating:** G

**Timeline:** Between Episodes 11 and 12 of Revolution.

**Summary: **Gourry is not good with words, but he can tell everything about a person's mood when he spars with them. Amelia and Gourry friendship.

* * *

When Gourry managed to successfully land six hits in a row on Amelia and getting hit only once in return, as they sparred the morning before they arrived in Seyruun, he began to worry. Normally 'sparring' was more along the lines of 'try not to get beaten up too badly by Amelia' for Gourry. When he actually managed to catch Amelia's fist, he decided that it was the final straw.

"Cheer up, Amelia!" Gourry told her, backing up and raising his hands to signal the end of the fight. She blinked at him.

"Eh? Am I acting sad?" Puzzlement entered her eyes.

Gourry shook his head, "No, but I'm doing much better this time."

"But that's a good thing, isn't it?"

"Normally," Gourry said. "But there is no way I've gotten that much better in a week. You're distracted."

Amelia nodded slowly, "I guess I am..." She admitted. "I'm a bit concerned..."

"About Seyruun?" Gourry inquired. She nodded.

"We'll get there in time to help," Gourry informed her quietly. "There haven't been any ruins lately, so I think we're ahead." He put a hand on her shoulder, "So don't worry. Okay?"

"But, how will we defeat Zanaffar?" she asked. "If the Ra Tilt and Dragon Slave don't work on it..."

"We'll find a way," Gourry said. "We always do..." He gave her a smile, "Ready to beat me up again?"

"I don't beat you up!" Amelia protested, but moved back into a fighting position anyway. "You're very good, Gourry-san."

* * *

**A/N:** Sort of a sequel to "Sparring". The concept of Gourry telling a person's mood through fighting has popped up in other fanfics from time to time, and it makes sense. Gourry's a very talented fighter, and his friend's abilities are probably one of those few things he bothers to remember. I like the concept of Gourry being the one to cheer Amelia up sometimes, because I think that Gourry's nature fills in when logical attempts don't cut it.


	4. Of Tolerance

**Title:** Of Tolerance

**Characters:** Lina and Zelgadis

**Pairings:** slight L/G and A/Z if you really squint.

**Rating:** PG

**Timeline:** Between Revolution and Evolution-R

**Summary: **Nothing is worse than being stuck in a library with a very angry Lina, as Zelgadis soon discovered. Friendship fic with Zelgadis and Lina.

* * *

The wall seemed to shudder when a loud slam echoed throughout the library. Zelgadis gave a start, losing his grip on the ladder, which began to tip backwards. He hastily seized at the bookcase, only for the bookcase to began to fall as well. Instead of simply falling to the ground, the contents of the bookcase knocked into him, THEN he hit the ground.

He pulled his head out of the pile just in time to see a very angry sorceress storming past him without taking any notice of her surroundings.

There were two possible explanations for this: A) Gourry had said something to Lina that had resulted, predictably, in angering her, or B) Seyruun had somehow run out of food.

Taking into account that Seyruun was a prosperous country, and Lina's hometown had managed to feed her for over a decade, Zelgadis decided that it was the former. That, and there was a pink slipper clenched tightly in Lina's fist.

Zelgadis could only hope that she wouldn't notice him, but to no avail.

"Zel!" Lina snapped. "What are you doing sitting around? Get back to work!"

Perhaps she was too annoyed to notice the bookcase and numerous tomes pinning him down, or maybe she just didn't care. It didn't matter too much, and Zelgadis just grunted, pushing the bookshelf back up and beginning the tedious task of putting the books back up, in order.

"Stupid Gourry," Lina muttered angrily. She slammed a stack of books down particularly hard. "Idiot... Jerk... Jellyfish brains..." Each angry mumble was punctuated with another book hitting the table as she sorted through them.

_'Well, at least now I know that Seyruun isn't going into a food crisis,'_ Zelgadis thought sarcastically. Lina's fury seemed to hover around the library like a haze, and she seemed determined to make him do more research. He mentally weighed his options, and then sighed, rolling his eyes. He'd probably get a fireball for this... "I give up... Lina, what did Gourry do?"

A page ripped slightly as Lina's hand jerked. Hastily, she let go and fumbled through the desk drawers for something to fix it with. "What makes you think he did anything?"

"Why else would you be slamming books around and blowing up at everything?" Zelgadis tried not to roll his eyes.

"Nothing," Lina scowled. She finished her clumsy repair of the book and tried to read it again. "He just made a... comment..."

It all made sense now. Zelgadis had a pretty good idea as to what Gourry had said, "You know that everyone only remarks about that because you let it get to you, right?"

Lina's jaw dropped, "What?"

"It's true," Zelgadis insisted. "That's the one thing that's guaranteed to get you angry. If you pretended that you don't care, eventually people will get tired of it."

Well, that wasn't necessarily true... But Zelgadis was certain that either way, the library was going to go up in smoke in about five minutes. At least this way there was a slim chance of preserving the peace and salvaging whatever good mood Lina had before.

"Hey, Lina!"

They both turned to see Gourry bounding towards them, an ice cream cone held in each hand. "Look! I brought you some Ice Cream!" Amelia was trailing behind him, looking amused.

"Ooh!" Lina beamed, the anger leaving her face so quickly it was as if it was never there. She snatched the cone.

One of the librarians started towards them, but a sharp glance from Amelia subdued her.

"Your idea, I suppose?" Zelgadis inquired quietly. Amelia gave a smile and a nod.

There was a sound of something being hit, and they looked back at Gourry in Lina in time to see Gourry stagger back a bit, a slipper mark on his face.

"Knew it wouldn't last."

Zelgadis and Amelia jumped, looking back to see Pokota floating there and watching the sorceress and swordsman with interest.

"Pokota-san, when did you get here?"

"Knew what wouldn't last?"

"Was here the entire time," Pokota shrugged. "I hid when Lina came storming in here, though." He finally answered Zelgadis's question, "I knew that your attempt to get Lina to ignore comments on her chest wouldn't last."

Zelgadis shrugged, "It was worth a try."

* * *

**A/N: **Written for Earthstar_chan on livejournal. I had a lot of difficulty coming up with a friendship situation for Lina and Zelgadis, and I'm still not quite satisfied, but hopefully it's okay. There will be a companion piece to this.


	5. The Tea Room

**Title:** The Tea Room

**Characters:** Amelia, Zelgadis, Lina, Gourry, Pokota, Sylphiel, Nama, Phil (mention)

**Pairings:** Amelia/Zelgadis, Lina/Gourry, Crack!Sylphiel/Phil

**Rating:** PG-13 (because of the crack!)

**Timeline:** Early Evolution-R

**Summary: **Amelia should have realized it was a nightmare from the moment she found herself in a city she had left over a month ago... but as dreams often are... she didn't... Tribute/followup to Earth Star's _'Wedding Nightmare'_ (Chapter 11 of _'Slayers Tales'_)

* * *

"What did you want to talk about, Sylphiel-san?" Amelia sipped at her tea, staring at the older priestess intently. She had such a serious look on her face, that Amelia didn't know what to think, and she had hardly touched her tea.

Come to think of it, why were they drinking tea back in Seyruun? Hadn't they just been wandering around somewhere near Ruvingard, following Nama? And what was with the curtain blocking a large portion of the room?

"Amelia-san," Sylphiel said suddenly. Amelia forced herself to bring her attention away from the room, despite the unsettling feeling she was getting. It wouldn't be just to be inspecting the room while a friend was telling her something important, after all! Suddenly, Sylphiel leaned over the table and took Amelia's hands, her eyes turning solemn. "This is very important, and I'm sorry to spring it on you."

"Wh-what is it, Sylphiel-san?" Amelia asked worriedly. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing is wrong. It's wonderful, you see," Sylphiel smiled. "I've finally gotten over Gourry-sama!"

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Amelia said, relieved. "I had been so worried that you would be hurt because of Lina-san and Gourry-"

"But that's not what I wanted to tell you, Amelia-san. The reason I've gotten over Gourry-sama is because... I fell in love with someone else," a dreamy expression took over Sylphiel's features, and she went a bit pink. "I'm married, Amelia-san."

"T-that's great!"

"Amelia-san, I married your father."

There was a very, very awkward silence as Amelia's mouth fell open in surprise. She tried to say something - _anything_- but could only muster the tiniest of squeaks. Sylphiel continued on, seeming to not notice her state.

"I'm sorry you couldn't be at the wedding, Amelia-san," Sylphiel said happily. It seemed like a load had come off her shoulders. "But you were busy with searching for... well... whatever you were searching for, and we just couldn't wait. I hope you're not upset about missing it."

Amelia tried and failed to speak, once again.

"Oh it was so wonderful, Amelia-san!" Sylphiel clasped the younger woman's hands tighter, stars entering her eyes. "I had been so sad, since Lina-san and Gourry-sama had gotten married not long ago-"

When had that happened?

"-And it seemed like I was the only single person left after Wizer-san married Xellos-san and you and Zelgadis-san got married-"

Suddenly, Amelia's voice came back, and it brought a furious blush with it, "WHAT?! M-me? A-a-and Zelgadis-san?" What was going on?! She knew that she and Zelgadis had gotten a lot more comfortable around each other lately, and she was pretty sure that her feelings for him were returned, but they hadn't even admitted it properly, let alone gotten married!

Sylphiel finally seemed to take notice of Amelia's mingled horror and confusion, "Are you alright, Amelia-san? I suppose it's still taking some time for you to get used to being married," Sylphiel offered her a broad grin. "I know it sure is taking me some time."

"I... but that's... that never-!" Amelia stuttered. "Sylphiel-san, w-what-"

"Did you get enough sleep last night, Amelia?" She whirled around in surprise to find that Zelgadis had walked through the curtain. He crossed the room over to her, and put a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe you should go back to sleep, and I'll go to the meeting for you." He leaned over to kiss her. Amelia went red and started to stutter again, hopelessly lost.

Sylphiel chattered on, oblivious. "But anyway, Amelia-san... Please, call me mom."

"What's going on?!" Amelia shouted. Next thing she knew, she had tumbled out of the bed of the inn with a start. She could hear running footsteps outside, and Lina was sitting up in bed and staring, a mix between irritation, concern, and sleepiness.

"Wuzzamatter?" She slurred. Amelia took a quick look around, and took a deep breath of relief, putting a hand over her racing heart.

"What happened, Amelia-san?" Nama asked from over in the corner, where Lina had demanded the suit of armor stay for the night.

"What's wrong?!" Zelgadis and Gourry had shoved open the door, and Pokota had floated over their heads.

"N-nothing is wrong!" Amelia squeaked. "I just had a nightmare... well, sort of..." she caught Zelgadis's eye, turned bright red, and looked away again, to his confusion. "It wasn't all bad, but it was really weird... I was drinking tea with Sylphiel-san-"

"Was it a room in Seyruun?" Lina interrupted. "With a big curtain and a whole bunch of really dainty-looking teacups?"

"Yes, how did you- Lina-san?" she watched as Lina strode over to the wall and began to hit bang her head into it.

"Lina," Gourry said carefully. "What are you doing?"

"Trying... to burn... the image... of Xellos... and Wizer... getting.... married... out of... my brain..." Lina punctuated every other syllable with a bang.

The others suddenly looked faintly sick.

* * *

A/N: A while ago, Earth Star wrote a little fanfic in her 'Slayers Tales' involving Lina having a dream where several people had gotten married (It's chapter 11, if you want to find it, which you should if you haven't read it). On Valentine's day, Zenavvy from livejournal drew a hilarious picture of Phil, and Pip25 and Phizzy_chan mentioned the recent Sylphiel/Phil crackpairing in their comments of that picture. A horrible idea entered my brain, and refused to leave until I had written this and shared it with the world. Now that your brain is sufficiently destroyed, I bid you good day.


	6. Understatement

**Title: **Understatement

**Characters:** Gourry, Zelgadis, Amelia, Lina, Zuuma, Pokota (mention)

**Pairings:** Mild A/Z and L/G

**Rating:** PG-13

**Timeline:** Evolution-R Manga chapter 2

**Summary: **Gourry was a forgiving person, but he wasn't sure if he would come out of this battle without blaming someone... even that person ended up being Zelgadis or himself. (SPOILER ALERT)

* * *

To say that Gourry was angry may have been a bit of an understatement. Actually, to say that it was a bit of an understatement would have been an even _bigger_ understatement.

It had been one thing to go with Ozel, attack but not really hurt Lina, and to cast Sleep on Amelia. But now, seeing Zelgadis with his sword drawn and standing next to Zuuma, Gourry was downright furious. Not that he was convinced that Zelgadis had really deserted them; he was still clinging to that slim hope – or was it desperation? If things came down to it, if it was either Lina or Zelgadis... Gourry would choose Lina without hesitation. Gourry didn't want to make that choice – _none _of them wanted to make that choice. Amelia would never forgive him, and he would never forgive himself.

Maybe it would have been easier if he'd had a regular blade, or even the Sword of Light's fake blade. But the copy had none, and if Gourry actually hit Zelgadis, it wouldn't bounce off like most things. The sword of light was one of the few things that could pierce Zelgadis's skin – he would have to hold back if he didn't want to kill Zelgadis. In a proper fight with the Sword of Light, Zelgadis didn't stand a chance... and both of them knew it.

Amelia was pleading with Zelgadis, but he said nothing to her. Gourry saw, or maybe hoped, that _something_ changed in the chimera's eyes, pain at having to do this. Then Zelgadis drew his sword, telling Zuuma to go for Gourry first.

They couldn't afford to fight now: Pokota had run off to take care of the rest of the lesser demons; Lina was hopeless in a sword fight; Gourry's arm was injured; and Amelia could barely stand, angry red and blue bruises were springing up over her arms and throat, and probably more were hidden by her tunic and leggings. Worst of all, her eyes were shining with tears – she looked completely heartbroken.

_'I really hope you had nothing to do with the mazoku that just attacked her,' _Gourry thought with another spark of anger. He'd traveled with them for years, they were his _family._ Gourry had already had a family torn apart by betrayal, he couldn't bear to have it happen again. Gourry knew he was protective of the others – he cared about Lina more than anything, but Amelia was like the little sister he never had. _'Even if you didn't, I'm going to have to punch you for making Amelia cry.'_

_

* * *

  
_

A/N: Chances are, sometime in your life you'll either be or have that one older friend that would beat up _anyone_ who hurts the younger friend, whether it's emotionally or physically. Gourry strikes me as that friend when it comes to the others (aside from Lina, since that's not the platonic type of overprotectiveness). And in NEXT, Gourry did hit Zel when he brought up the topic of Amelia's uncle and sister... I imagine that this situation would make Gourry quite a bit angrier.


	7. Sleeping Arrangements

**Title: **Sleeping Arrangements

**Characters:** Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis, Amelia, Pokota. Brief mention of Radok, Abel, and Ozel.

**Pairings:** Lina/Gourry, Amelia/Zelgadis

**Rating:** PG

**Timeline:** Between Evolution-R 6 and 7.

**Summary: **All Gourry really wanted to do was get a good night's sleep, but it seemed like everyone else was determined that it wasn't to be. A tired party is not a happy party.

* * *

"_This _is where we're sleeping?" Lina asked, twitching. After convincing Zelgadis that staying in an inn by himself after a mazoku attack was a bad idea, several rounds of healing (Gourry had been hit in the arm, Zelgadis's throat was bruised from nearly being strangled, and Amelia had several fractures from the mazoku's attempt at crushing her), and an unsuccessful attempt at getting information from Xellos, they had finally made it back to Radok's mansion.

After getting chastised for leaving without informing Radok, he sent Ozel to take them to the place they would be sleeping. To Lina's horror, it was a rather cramped storage room.

"Radok-sama has indicated that these will be your quarters for your stay, yes," Ozel nodded formally, and left.

Lina grunted, "Stingy bastard... not even giving us beds... There are like a million rooms here!"

"This is probably better, anyway, Lina," Gourry said patiently. "If Zuuma or one of the mazoku comes, it's better that we're all in one place." All Gourry really wanted to do was to sleep. The trip to Vezendi, the fight in the inn, and the confusion of the aftermath had tired him out.

"Gourry, this is a storage room," Lina growled.

"It doesn't bother me," Amelia yawned.

"Fine. I guess we'll just use our bedrolls," Lina grumbled. She dropped her pack on the ground and started rummaging through it.

"Actually," Zelgadis muttered. "Most of my stuff was destroyed at the inn..."

"Absolutely wonderful!" Lina snarled sarcastically. "Share with Amelia, or something. She wouldn't mind, I'm sure." Pokota, Amelia, and Zelgadis began to talk all at once.

"WHAT!?"

"Lina-san, what are you talking about?"

"What are you insinuating, Lina?"

"Well it's not like you're very subtle-"

"About what?!"

"Lina, you sleep at that end," Gourry pointed, not acknowledging the argument. While the others had been arguing, he had managed to lay out all of the bedrolls as best as they could fit in the cramped room. "Pokota on the other side, because you'll fight otherwise. Amelia next to Lina - try not to toss so much, Lina. We just fought a mazoku today - and I'm next to Pokota. Zel, you get the one by itself, because there's not room. It's the only way we'll all fit." Not to mention that, with Pokota's crush and Zelgadis's badly-hidden attraction to Amelia, as well as the numerous things between Lina and Gourry that nobody would admit, it was the only way he could be absolutely certain that nobody would wake up in an awkward situation. Things had been awkward_ enough_ after the fish incident.

They all froze, blinking at the swordsman as he tiredly pulled off his armor and clambered into the large mass of bedrolls, he was asleep in moments.

"I guess... that works..." Lina mused. "Though it would've been funny if Amelia and Zel had to share. It would serve them right after the fish thing."

"It's not like it was Amelia's fault that your guy picked fish people over you," Pokota pointed out.

"Just go to bed!"

* * *

A/N: Episode 7 of Slayers Evolution-R was just plain adorable, starting from when the group wakes up. Apparently, they're sleeping in some kind of storage room, all close to each other, and I found it really sweet. There's a big long discussion of the sleeping arrangements on livejournal. From left to right on the bottom, it was Pokota, Gourry, Amelia, and then Lina, and Zel had one above with his head towards the others (specifically, his head was right above Amelia's). There was much musing about those arrangements, and I randomly decided that it was probably Gourry's idea.


	8. People Skills

**Title: **People skills

**Characters:** Gourry and Zelgadis, mention of Lina, Amelia, Randy, and Gracia

**Pairings:** L/G and A/Z if you reach.

**Rating:** G

**Timeline: **Slayers NEXT episode 9.

**Summary: **While Lina and Amelia are talking to Alfred, Gourry takes the chance to have a talk with Zelgadis.

* * *

Gourry held his breath unconsciously as Lina and Amelia left to investigate the contents of the letter that had been delivered to Lina. Once their footsteps faded away, he let out the breath and turned to the man beside him. "That was stupid of you."

Zelgadis stared at the ground, looking thoroughly miserable, "I know..." He had started to play with his fingers again, a nervous habit that Gourry had never seen him use, which meant that he really did regret bringing up Amelia's sister and uncle.

Gourry sighed, "Just remember, the death of a sibling isn't something people want brought up."

"She's not dead."

Gourry blinked, "You said the loss of..."

"Her sister ran away," Zelgadis informed him quietly.

_Ran away...?_

The sword at his hip felt unusually heavy, he unconsciously rubbed his thumb along its hilt. "Why?"

"I've heard that she couldn't take it after the death of their mother, and the mess with inheriting the throne..." he trailed off.

Gourry sighed, putting a hand on Zelgadis's shoulder, "We need to work on your people skills. One day you're going to get slapped."

"You hit me already," Zelgadis pointed out.

"It would've hurt more if Amelia had hit you," Gourry shrugged. "Have you _seen_ her fight?"

* * *

A/N: Might make a bit more sense if you've read Gourry's side-story, where we finally get to hear a bit about his past... I think that sometimes, that lets Gourry relate to Amelia's past a bit more than the other characters.

And yes, I know that Gracia is officially on a training journey, but I doubt that's the story Zel heard. Personally, I can't see Gracia wanting to take the throne after all the problems going on.


End file.
